


The Purple Hoarder

by TheTravelerWrites



Series: Commissions [16]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Disease, Exophilia, F/F, Illness, Japanese Dragon, dragon - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-11
Updated: 2019-10-11
Packaged: 2020-12-09 06:55:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20990681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheTravelerWrites/pseuds/TheTravelerWrites
Summary: A 3000 word commission for @alittlespicygay, the first place reward for the 2000 follower giveaway!A village at the base of the mountain has been stricken with a mysterious disease, the only cure of which is an illusive flower known as the Dragon's Tear. Finding it was easy, actually obtaining it would be a bit more complicated...





	The Purple Hoarder

To say that hiking in the nearby mountains is ill-advised was an understatement: most people who did so never came back. Only desperate people with a death wish were crazy enough to traverse the wilds of the forest, but you were plenty desperate.

A strange illness had overtaken your town, and you, as one of the last healthy people left, had been tasked with going into the mountains to find a rare flower called the Dragon’s Tear, which was supposedly the cure. The quest was made all the more difficult since you’d never actually seen one. In fact, no one had. There were drawings of it, but no one had seen the flower in over two hundred years.

Having packed and bid farewell to the few who could still stand to see you off, you started your long trek into the woods at the base of the mountain.

Two days had brought nothing but blisters on your feet and a sore back from sleeping on the ground. You really had no idea where to go, only a vague idea of what you were looking for. As you sat on the third morning, eating dried fruit for breakfast and staring at the peak of the mountain above you through the canopy of the trees, you suddenly had the intense feeling as though you were going to have to go up. _Way _up.

So you did. You had to find something that resembled a pathway, as most of the stones were jagged and broken, but after several hours of scrapes and scratches, grunting and heaving, you made it to a ledge to rest, gulping for breath.

As you sat there, trying not to die from lack of oxygen, you felt something brush softly against the back of your hand: a purple petal with black veins and a white base, fresh, perfect, and unwithered. You sat up suddenly, shock driving the exhaustion from your body. That was a Dragon’s Tear petal!

Where! Where had it come from? Scrambling up and grabbing your bag roughly, you tried to find the source of the petal.

After searching, you found a strangely hidden mouth of a cave, cleverly concealed behind a wall of jagged stone. If one was looking from any direction but down at it from above, they’d never have seen it. Petals were drifting out of the opening one or two at a time.

You made your way carefully inside, taking off your shoes so that you didn’t make any sound as your feet glided gently across the floor. It was dark in the cavern, naturally, but there were points of light through the rocks that gave you direction without having to light a torch.

Creeping slowly, you saw more petals peppered here and there on the ground, moving to and fro from the odd wind that permeated throughout the tunnelway. But the petals weren’t what you needed; while the petals had some components needed to treat the sick, the more potent medicine was in the stem of the flower. The petals of one flower might treat one person, but the stem could cure twenty.

As you slowly got closer into the cave, you heard a rumbling sound that continuously grew louder as you went farther in. You began to feel trepidatious, but you didn’t falter in your steps.

The tunnel of the cave opened up into a larger cavern. Light from a small hole in the center of the roof poured in, adding a small amount of light to the cave, just enough to see. You gasped. All around you, covering the floor, the walls, and the ceiling in the purple healing flowers, just growing from the stone. You could take as many as you wanted and cure an entire country. Once the village was healed, you could sell the rest and be rich beyond your dreams. Your mind reeled with possibilities.

As you reached down to pluck one up, you heard the rumble again. Looking up, you saw a dark purple mass, huge, black, and curled around itself, lying in the the middle of the sea of flowers. The way it was laying made it difficult to determine what manner of creature it was, but the way its body rose and fell with the rumbling said it was clearly asleep. Whatever it was, it was big enough to injure you should it wake, so you carefully backed away, bending to snatch a handful of the flowers.

As you did so, your canteen fell out of your bag, falling past the flowers and clattering loudly to the floor.

“Fuck!” You hissed, grabbing it up and pulling out a dagger, looking at the figure as it moved and stretched, shaking out its dark fur. It was long, from it’s neck to its body to its tail. Its limbs were relatively short, however. There were a pair of long horns on its head and it had whiskers that extended past its mouth and downward, like a mustache. It appeared to be a dragon of some kind, though it had no wings.

“Can I ask what you’re doing in my home?” The creature said in a distinctly feminine tone, blowing warm breath against you as she spoke. For having been woken by an intruder, she was awfully calm, though you assumed if you could eat your intruders, you wouldn’t be all that perturbed, either.

“I…” You gulped a little but raised the knife in your hand in a way you hoped was menacing. “I’ve come for the flowers. A sickness has taken the village at the base of the mountain. None have died yet, but hundreds are sick and not recovering. Please. I just need the flowers and I’ll never bother you again.”

She snorted out of her nostrils, and your hair was blown back by the wind. “You come in here, threaten me with a toothpick, and make demands? How bold of you.” She sat back on her short hind legs and crossed her front ones, like a disappointed aunt. “What will you offer me for the flowers?”

“Offer you?” You asked, confused.

“Well, yes,” She said impatiently. “You wouldn’t steal flowers from your neighbor’s garden, would you?”

“I would if it saved an entire village of people!” You retorted loudly.

She was unswayed. “What will you offer?”

You sighed sharply. “I don’t have any money,” You replied, holding out your hands helplessly.

She snorted again. “I’m not like my scaly cousins. Money doesn’t interest me. What else can you offer?”

“What do you want?” You asked.

She got back down on all fours and came closer. “Do you have a comb or a hairbrush?”

“What?” You said, feeling more confused that you thought possible.

“Well, look at the state of my fur!” She said, turning. Her fur was rather tangled and full of brambles and twigs. “I don’t have the dexterity to to get it out myself. Or a comb.”

“So you want me to groom you?” You asked skeptically.

“Yes,” She said. “You brush my fur, and I’ll let you have one flower.”

“_One?!_” You shouted. “It’ll take plenty more than that to cure the entire village!”

“Which is why you will return each day to brush my fur. Each day you come and attend to me, and each day, you’ll leave with one flower. When the town is cured, you won’t have to come anymore.”

“It took me three days to get here!”

“I will fly you down the mountain every evening and come back to pick you up every morning.”

“You can fly? How? You don’t have wings.”

You could almost hear her roll her eyes. “I’m magical, dear. So, do we have a deal?”

“Well, I don’t really have a choice, do I?” You grumbled.

“Oh, there’s always a choice,” She said. “Come along, now. It’ll be better in the sun, where you can see what you’re doing. It’s too dark in here.” As she brushed past you toward the exit, she added, “I’m Raun, by the way.”

You resisted the urge to snatch up a few of the flowers while she wasn’t looking and reluctantly followed her out of the cave, petals whispering against the ground as she moved through them.

Out in the sunlight, you could see that she wasn’t all black like she appeared inside: like the flower petals, her fur started black at the base but grew out into a purple hue. The slitted irises of her eyes were also purple, and the blackness of her horns had an iridescent purple sheen. She lay her long body down on the warm stone and looked at you expectantly. With a sigh, you retrieved a comb and hairbrush from your pack.

Thankfully, she was clean and smelled very nice. She said there was a private pool close by where she bathed regularly, and she attributed the pleasant scent of her fur to the flowers she slept in, which had a vaguely honeysuckle-elderflower smell.

The hardest part was removing each tiny bramble and twig individually before you could even start combing out the tangles. By the time you were halfway through plucking, the sun had begun to set.

“Ah,” She said, standing abruptly and dislodging you. She darted into the cave and returned with a single flower, stem included, and gave it to you. She then lowered her neck to the ground. “Time to get you home. Climb on. Hold my horns.”

Not at all trusting this situation, you carefully swung a leg over her and straddled her right behind her head. Wasting no time, she bound forward and took a dive off of the cliff. You screamed as she came up short of the ground and rose sharply, dancing like a ribbon in the wind as she flew, truly flew, over the canopy of trees back toward the village.

She stopped short of the town’s edge and landed gracefully, though you were still feeling sick.

“I’ll return here in the morning, just after dawn. I’ll have breakfast waiting,” She said. “Also, as part of the deal, you tell no one about me. I don’t need a legion of thieves showing up at my doorstep, if you please. Otherwise, I’ll destroy the flowers and move on.”

“I understand,” You said.

“Good.” Without another word, she leapt and took off back toward her cave. You watched in confusion and a little bit of awe.

You went back into the town and present the flower to the council, telling them you could only find one, but that you’d go back out the next day to look for more. They thanked you, immediately instructing the physician to begin the process of distilling a cure.

You didn’t sleep that night, feeling anxious about the next day. Raun had been rather approachable, friendly even, but she was still a dragon. The stories about them weren’t exactly encouraging, especially about what happens to the people who encounter them.

The next morning, you hiked out again into the woods. Raun was waiting for you there in the place she’d sat you down.

“Ready to go?” She asked, sounding chipper.

“I suppose,” You grumbled.

She cocked her head at you. “You look tired.”

“I didn’t sleep.”

“Goodness. Why not?”

“It doesn’t matter,” You said, sighing. “Let’s go.”

She shrugged and, after letting you climb on her back, she took off again.

As she landed and allowed you to slip down, you asked, “So, should we get started?”

“No, no! I said I’d have breakfast ready. Are you hungry?”

“It depends,” You said, eyeing her suspiciously. “It’s not raw meat or anything, is it?”

She snorted again. “No, don’t be silly. I’m a vegetarian.” She led you inside the cave, which you couldn’t help but notice had been spruced up a little. There were other flowers and things littered about. There were even two braziers lit, so that there was more light in the cave and you could see better. You imagined she had night vision and didn’t need the extra light, so she must have put them up just for you.

In the center, where she slept, there was a large array of fruit and vegetables laid out on some kind of fur, most likely bear, and flowers put all around the spread. It was actually… really pretty.

“Why…?” Was all you could manage to get out.

“I don’t have guests all that often,” She said, curling her body around the bear fur with breakfast on it and eating an entire watermelon. “I want you to feel welcome.”

“Oh,” You said, sitting cross-legged on the floor across from her. You picked up a pear, sniffed it, and ate it.

You ate your fill long before she did, and as you waited for her to finish, being full and warm started to make your eyelids droop and your head nod. You blinked, and when you opened your eyes again, you were laying against her fur with her head in your lap, her eyes closed.

“Um…” You reached out and tugged gently on her ear, which was goat-like, and her eyes popped open, her pupils blown wide like a cat in the dark.

“Ah, you’re awake,” She said, lifting her head off of you. “You fell asleep during breakfast. It’s almost lunchtime now.”

“Oh, god, I’m so sorry!” You said. “Please, I didn’t mean it, please don’t withhold the flower today! So many people are still sick!”

“I wasn’t going to,” She replied, taken aback. “I”m not heartless, dear.” She stood up and began walking toward the exit. “Would you like to come and help me pick lunch? I have a garden I’ve been tending in a lower part of the mountain.”

“Sure,” You said slowly and followed her outside.

Her “garden” was practically a farm in and of itself; there were rows of vegetables and trees, and fruit dangling from the vine. In addition, there were flowers_ everywhere_. It was a paradise.

“This is beautiful,” You told her.

If a dragon could smile, she certainly was at the moment. “Thank you! It was years in the making.”

You helped her pick a bushel of various fruits and vegetables and had lunch in the middle of her garden. She then flipped on her back and allowed you to begin detangling the fur on her long belly like a placated housecat.

It went on this way for weeks: every morning you left with Raun to brush out her fur and spend a day talking and, over time, enjoying each other’s company, and every evening you returned to the village with a single Dragon’s Tear. Every day, twenty people were cured of the sickness, and life began to return to the town. You were hailed as a hero, though you felt a bit guilty that all you had done to earn the flower was lounge around with a fluffy dragon in a garden.

Six weeks on, you were sitting against her with her tail in your lap, brushing out the fur. Since you had started, her fur had gone from a tangled, brambles mess to sleek, shiny, and gorgeous. You were almost a little jealous.

“There’s only twenty-three people still sick in the village,” You mentioned casually. “You’ll be free of me the day after tomorrow.”

Raun was silent and still, perhaps sleeping. She often did fall asleep when you were brushing. After a few minutes, though, you heard her ask, “Will you visit me?”

“If you like,” You said. “I know I must be a thorn in your side, coming up here and demanding things from you. I’ll be out of your hair soon.” You laughed. “So to speak.”

Raun did not laugh. In fact, she was rather quiet from then on.

The day came when you received the last flower, and she let you down in the same glade as always.

“Well,” She said, sitting down so that she was eye level with you. “I’m glad your people are well. This will be goodbye, then?”

“I’m afraid so,” You told her, patting her nose. “I’m sure you’ll be glad without me underfoot.”

“Take care of yourself,” Raun said. “This village is lucky to have someone like you.”

Before you could reply, she turned and ran off, shooting up out of the canopy and away to her home.

The last few people were cured, and the village held a celebration in your honor. The attention made you extremely uncomfortable, and everything reminded you of Raun. The wine was made with elderflower, there was a watermelon carved in the shape of a dragon, there was a spread of food on a bear skin. This feast should include Raun. She was as much responsible for this as you were.

A week passed, and you dreamed of Raun every night. Some dreams were good, some weren’t. No matter how hard you tried, you simply couldn’t put her out of your mind.

_Will you visit me?_

Well… why not? She didn’t kill you the last time you showed up unannounced, and you imagined her fur must be rather tangled by now. You bounced out of your bed in the early morning hours while the village was still quiet, gathered your things, including a giant, brand new horse brush you’d bought for no reason you could think of, and began your trek up the mountain.

It took less time, since you knew where you were going, but it was still the better part of the day to get there. By the time you’d made it to the well hidden entryway, dusk was falling. Inside, you heard a low moaning, like wind through a tunnel. Curious, you went inside.

It was dark, but there was still enough light that you could see Raun inside, sitting with her front legs tucked in, her head bowed, and bright tears dripping down her face and onto the stone. As it hit, a brand new Dragon’s Tear flower bloom instantly from where her tear fell, fully formed and glowing.

It was then you realized as you looked at the flowers all over the floor, the walls, the ceiling. Each one was a tear, a real tear. How many had she cried? How long? It had to have been before you came because there were already so many then, but now, every inch was covered in the flowers. She must have been crying for days.

“Raun!” You exclaimed, running forward and throwing your arms around her neck. “What’s wrong, are you alright?”

She gasped and put her large paws around you. “You came back! I didn’t think you would!”

“Why didn’t you tell me you wanted me to come back?” You asked her, pulling her forward by her whiskers.

“I did!” She said, sniffling, another tear leaking out. It landed on the hem of your skirt, and a flower popped up there. “But I didn’t think you wanted to.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” You said. “I haven’t stopped thinking of you. I should have come back sooner.” You kissed her snout repeatedly. “I brought brushes,” You said, a tear or two in your own eyes. “Could you use some grooming?”

“Always,” She laughed back, nuzzling your neck. “But can we have dinner first?”


End file.
